CALGARY - You could say this was a season to forget for Drew Tate, but that might be taken as a bad joke.

After all the angst about the head-shot he took Sunday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it turns out getting tripped up later in the West semifinal ended his season.

On Thursday, the Calgary Stampeders announced their No. 1 pivot has a fracture in his right forearm that wasn't diagnosed until late Wednesday night.

With Tate out for the year, Kevin Glenn steps into the pocket for Sunday's West final in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions (4:30 p.m., TSN, QR77).

This season started with Tate dislocating his left shoulder in Toronto, and he only returned to full action for the post-season.

Now, he doesn't get a chance to complete the journey of taking the Stamps to the Grey Cup.

"It seems 2012 just wasn't my year," Tate said. "Given the opportunity, I will try to take full advantage of them. I will contribute the best I can. I did that with my few reps."

For someone who just received news his season was done, Tate was surprisingly upbeat Thursday.

With a cast on his right wrist, he ran around during practice, often throwing and catching the ball with his left arm while watching Glenn and Bo Levi Mitchell operate the offence.

"I'm not as bad as you guys think," the 28-year-old said. "The white horse will keep moving on. It will be a fun game to watch on Sunday."

Last Sunday's game continues to make news in the CFL.

On Thursday, the CFL announced Riders defensive end Tearrius George was suspended one game for his vicious helmet-to-helmet shot on Tate in the first half.

At halftime of that game, Tate said he couldn't remember the first half, a statement he recanted Monday.

Since the end of that game, he knew something was wrong with his forearm. Although he couldn't remember what play he was hurt on after sitting out Wednesday's practice, it was traced to a play where Tyron Brackenridge tripped him up in the third quarter.

"I figured after the game something was up," said Tate, who had immediate X-rays that came back negative and required an MRI to reveal the full extent of the damage.

"It took until Wednesday to figure it out. I told Kevin when we came in (Wednesday) that I don't know if I could go. I couldn't grip the ball.

"It's something you can't play through, because if you do, it will do something to something else."

Tate said the arm really started hurting at the end of Sunday's game, but he still managed to go on the field and fire the game-winning touchdown strike to Romby Bryant.

"It's amazing for him to finish the game in the shape he was in," receiver Nik Lewis said. "For him to be able to complete the game the way he did shows he's a tremendous player and he has heart.

"That's why love taking the field with him. That's why we love him as a quarterback."

As much as it hurts to lose Tate, the quarterback is still confident in his team's chances in the West final. All season long, the Stamps have overcome injuries. In 18 regular-season games, the Stamps played 72 different players.

"This team really is special," Tate said. "We had a special team in 2007 in Sask, but that was a veteran group. It's crazy this year.

"We're not so veteran in the CFL, but the mentality is we're always staying hungry. We do whatever we can to help out.

"We've faced this since the first day of training camp when two guys went down with knees. We've been in that mode of getting things done."